Posted in Bootleg Theater on September 5th, 2012 by JJ Koczan
For all past installments in the series, click here.
This fifth and final episode of Andrew Baxter and Cole Jenkins‘ documentary of Blaak Heat Shujaa‘s California recording session and tour wraps up the roadtime and covers the band returning to Scott Reeder‘s The Sanctuary studio, where they worked with guest vocalists Ron Whitehead and Mario Lalli. After the EP was finished, the band shot a new video for one of the songs — because if you’re in the desert, you gotta make the most of it while you can.
Thanks to Blaak Heat Shujaa, Tee Pee Records and Baxter and Jenkins for allowing me to host these clips as they’ve come along. Can’t wait to hear how the album actually came out!
This time around in Andrew Baxter and Cole Jenkins‘ serial documentary on the recording of Blaak Heat Shujaa‘s Tee Pee Records debut, the band break from working on the album with Scott Reeder to head into the desert for a couple gigs with poet Ron Whitehead before hitting up Los Angeles and a show with Fatso Jetson and Mondo Generator. Enjoy:
The Californian new album and tour adventures of Blaak Heat Shujaa continue, and so does filmmakers Cole Jenkins and AndrewBaxter‘sdocumentary series covering them. In this episode, the three-piece continue work on their Tee Pee Records debut and meet up with awesomely-bearded poet Ron Whitehead, who’ll be their tourmate for their short run of shows through the Golden State, running through this weekend.
Today, heavy desert rockers Blaak Heat Shujaa continue the up-to-the-minute coverage of the recording of their new album. In the second episode of their docu-series, the three-piece continue their recording process with Scott Reeder at the helm and prepare for a California tour with Ron Whitehead.
If you missed the first episode, check it out here. Here’s part two, and more to come:
Can’t say you weren’t warned. In this beginning of Blaak Heat Shujaa‘sdocumentary series covering the recording of their Tee Pee Records debut and their California mini-tour, the band arrive and make preparations at Scott Reeder‘s Sanctuary Studio. For more info about the project, check out the announcement here.
Filmmakers Cole Jenkins and Andrew Baxter sent over the below to get us started. Dig it:
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 17th, 2012 by JJ Koczan
In the three and a half years I’ve been working on this site, I’ve never quite been a part of a project like this. The idea is that French heavy psych rockers Blaak Heat Shujaa — hot on the hells of their signing to Tee Pee — are making a documentary series of videos that will cover their mini-tour of California and the recording of their new album with Scott Reeder. They’ve brought in filmmakers Cole Jenkins and Andrew Baxter to put it together one day at a time, and as each day passes, they’re going to send me the segments to post.
The episodes will be relatively short, but get ready, because as you can see in the explanation from guitarist/vocalist Thomas Bellier below, the band has a lot going on. Really looking forward to seeing how this comes out. I think it’s going to be an absolute blast over the next couple of weeks. Here’s the info, and for Blaak Heat Shujaa‘s tour dates, just click the poster image (courtesy of Skillit Art) below to enlarge it.
In early August, the Blaak Heat Shujaa trio reunited in Los Angeles straight from London, New York and Boulder. Since then, we’ve been hard at work crafting the new tunes for our second album in our Echo Park studio. It’s 100°F outside, about 95°F inside, Mike drums in his underwear, and the new jams rule.
On Friday, we’re hitting Scott Reeder’s studio, at the edge of the Mojave desert. We’ll be joined by our friends Mario Lalli and Ron Whitehead, who’ll record vocals on some tracks. On the 22nd, we kick off a California tour in Palm Springs, with Ron doing spoken word on stage with us. After that, we go back to Reeder’s on the 28th, where I’ll be polishing off my vocals and solos while my Blaak Heat acolytes will be shooting a free-form psychotomimetic proto-post-avant-garde music video.
Our buddies Cole Jenkins and Andrew Baxter, two LA-based musician/filmmakers, will follow us for two weeks, documenting the making of the new album, life on the road, and our encounters with friends, guest musicians, desert characters, other bands, dangerous animals and hazardous substances. Starting on August 19th and until the 31st, their footage will be featured on The Obelisk on a daily basis in the form of short video clips. Make sure you catch that rare footage of a newly signed band, where the musical sublime and human decadence will coexist in the most inextricable chaos (French subtitles not included).
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 7th, 2012 by JJ Koczan
Kudos to L.A. by way of New York by way of Paris by way of the desert by way of reverb rockers Blaak Heat Shujaa on the announcement of their signing to Tee Pee Records. The band is hard at work on the follow-up to their impressive self-titled debut (review here), and the news of their assignation just came down the PR wire.
To wit:
BLAAK HEAT SHUJAA Sign to Tee Pee Records
Fast Rising Los Angeles-via-Paris Based Trio Set to Enter the Studio to Record “Mind Expanding” Sophomore LP
Buzzworthy French-American psych rockers BLAAK HEAT SHUJAA have signed with NYC’s Tee Pee Records. Formed in 2008 in Paris, France, BLAAK HEAT SHUJAA promptly established themsleves as the ‘young Turks’ of European heavy psychedelia and boast a cinematic sound that has been called “Heavy Spaghedelia” and “Kyussian”, featuring “psychedelic, meditative, trance-inducing” and “spacey atmospheres”. Now based in Los Angeles, the trio’s highly anticipated second album — a clamorous combination of neo-psychedelia, heavy rock and spaghetti rock — will be recorded at Scott Reeder‘s (Kyuss, The Obsessed) Sanctuary Studio in the California desert and released in March, 2013.
Comprised of Thomas Bellier (also of Mirror Queen; Sonny Simmons Ensemble), Antoine Morel-Vulliez and new drummer Michael Amster (also of Black Acid Devil; Jesus & The Sputnik 9), BLAAK HEAT SHUJAA will be joined in the studio by Nobel Prize-nominated gonzo poet, Ron Whitehead and by desert rock legend Mario Lalli (of Yawning Man; Fatso Jetson; Desert Sessions…), with whom BHS has toured. After a globally acclaimed 2010 debut (also produced by Reeder), a full European tour with Yawning Man and numerous shows throughout Europe with prominent rock and psychedelic acts (including Dead Meadow, Karma to Burn, and Acid King), BLAAK HEAT SHUJAA is currently working on its new material which will push the group’s “exploration of mind-expanding music forms” into entirely new realms.
Additionally, BLAAK HEAT SHUJAA have announced a string of August live dates in California alongside the aforementioned Ron Whitehead. The run will kick off on August 22 in Palm Springs.
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 9th, 2011 by JJ Koczan
Interesting that New Jersey heavy rockers The Atomic Bitchwax, who’ve heretofore always named records numerically, are switching to a title for their fifth album, The Local Fuzz, the release announcement for which you’ll find below. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that The Local Fuzz is comprised entirely of one track, or maybe there’s some other, more elusive reason. Whatever the case, rest assured, rock will be had.
The Atomic Bitchwax will also be headlining Tee Pee Records‘ European label tour leading up to the album release. Here’s all the info from the PR wire:
Legendary New Jersey hard rock band The Atomic Bitchwax (also TAB) will release its new album The Local Fuzz on April 26 via Tee Pee Records. The trio’s fifth full-length effort delivers an advanced take on its blistering, virtuosic sound via a single, glorious 42-minute song titled “The Local Fuzz” that contains no less than “50 riffs back to back,” perfectly capturing the unit’s vivid execution and ambitious vision.
Recorded at the Panic Room in Neptune, NJ, The Local Fuzz pushes The Atomic Bitchwax‘s high-octane groove and powerful strut to new heights of unencumbered artistic expression. The band’s “Rush-like riff mazes” weave through natural pop structures nearly effortlessly while the record’s out-of-site production showcases the musicians’ prowess at the apex of their career to date. Widely recognized as pioneers of the modern hard (or “stoner”) rock sound, The Local Fuzz shows The Atomic Bitchwax as a forward-thinking band not content to rest on career accomplishments; instead surging forward to give fans a brand new way to re-experience the exhilarating rush and sonic assault of heavyweight rock ‘n’ roll.
Prior to the release of The Local Fuzz, The Atomic Bitchwax will headline a Tee Pee Records European label tour which will kick off on April 5 in Wiesbaden. Co-sponsored by the UK’sClassic Rock magazine, the tour will also feature Brooklyn heavy psych band Naam, Toronto-based psych rock band Quest for Fire and NYC rockers Mirror Queen. The band has also been announced as one of the featured acts at the 2011 Roadburn Festival, set to take place April 14-16 in Tilburg, Holland.
Tee Pee Records 2011 European Tour featuring The Atomic Bitchwax with Naam, Quest for Fire and Mirror Queen:
04/05 Wiesbaden, Germany Schlachthof
04/06 Vienna, Austria Arena 04/07 Würzburg, Germany Cafe Cairo
04/08 Dresden, Germany Groovestation
04/09 Hohenstein, Germany Schützenhaus
04/10 Berlin, Germany Magnet
04/11 Hamburg, Germany Molotow
04/12 Marburg, Germany KFZ
04/13 Dortmund, Germany Piano
04/14 Tilburg, Netherlands * Roadburn Festival (feat. The Atomic Bitchwax, Naam, Quest for Fire)
04/15 Jena, Germany Rosenkeller
04/16 Salzburg, Austria B. lack
04/17 Millstatt, Austria Bergwerk
04/18 Maribor, Slovenia Dvorana Gustaf -Pekarna
04/19 Torino, Italy United Club
04/20 Brescia, Italy Latte & Live
04/21 Luzern, Switzerland Sedel
04/22 Winterthur, Switzerland Gaswerk
04/23 Weil der Stadt, Germany JH Kloster
04/24 Paris, France Nouveau Casino
04/25 Rotterdam, Netherlands Baroeg
04/26 Antwerpen, Belgium Trix
04/27 London, UK Underworld
